Page 53 of Bratva's Vow
“No.”
The word was quiet but brutal in its finality.
“No?” I echoed, my stomach sinking. “I’m not staying with you. You can’t seriously think that after everything that happened, after everything you said, I want to stay at your house.”
Maxim didn’t flinch. “You’re not safe there, and I don’t trust you not to do something foolish while you’re irrational like this.” He stared dead ahead, tense and immovable.
Irrational? Because of him, my father was dead, and he thought I was being irrational? If I were, it was all his fault.
“I don’t give a damn. I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
“You’re staying where you’ve been living recently—at the house.”
“You can’t force me to?—”
“We both know damn well that I can,” he said, his tone colder now, laced with steel. “It’s easier if you go along with it and don’t make this any more difficult than it needs to be.”
The air sucked right out of the car. I gawked at him, chest heaving. “So what? You’re going to lock me up now? Chain me to the bed next?”
Maxim pressed his lips together hard. His gaze flicked to mine for the briefest moment. “That’s up to you.”
“This isn’t a fairytale, Maxim. I’m not the princess in thetower. You don’t get to lock me away and hope I fall back in love with the fucking dragon who won’t let me leave.”
“I know you’re not,” he said quietly, but his eyes gleamed with possession, with something ruthless simmering beneath the surface. “But until you calm down, until you come around—” His jaw tightened like he hated himself for saying it. “I’m sorry, Wren, but you’re not allowed to leave.”
I recoiled as if he’d slapped me.
I didn’t say anything after that. What was left to say? He made it clear I was no longer Wren Holloway, a human being with free will. I was now Wren, a liability to lock away.
The rest of the ride was dead silent except for the hum of tires and the thud of my furious heartbeat. Dezi must have heard every single thing we had said yet he didn’t react. What was it about Maxim that made men like my father and Bradley’s swore allegiance to him?
When we finally pulled into his driveway, something inside me cracked open. This was my only chance to get away. If I entered that house, I would never be allowed to leave.
The second the car slowed, I lunged for the door handle, prying it open before Dezi could even park properly.
“Wren!” Maxim barked behind me, but I didn’t care. I darted out of the car, heart racing, feet pounding against the driveway as I bolted like my life depended on it.
But I didn’t even make it five steps before Dezi grabbed me. His arms were like iron as they locked around my waist and hauled me back. I twisted and shoved, kicking and shouting at the top of my lungs.
“Let me go!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Get your fucking hands off me!”
“Wren, stop,” Dezi grunted, trying to contain me without hurting me. “You’re only making this worse.”
“I hate you!” I roared, glaring at Maxim as he stepped out of the car with deadly calm. “I fuckinghate you, Maxim!”
Maxim’s face didn’t shift. Didn’t so much as twitch. He only stared at me with something heavy and unbearably sad in his eyes.
“Your hate I can live with, solnyshko.” He softened his tone so much it was barely above a whisper. “But I could never live in a world without you in it. I’ll do whatever I see fit to keep you safe.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MAXIM
Icouldn’t stop watching him.
The live feed from the security camera played silently in the corner of my monitor, unfolding in real time like a wound that refused to close.
Wren.
